Death Valley (2008/Allumination DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Feature: C-

 

 

With actors like Brendan Fletcher (Roller Coaster) and Eric Christian Olsen (Eagle Eye) still up and coming, plus the producers of Dog Soldiers, I had hopes that the Rudy Liden/David Kebo’s Death Valley (about the teens with nothing to do and a bike gang who could care less) would be interesting.  It even became a featured film at the ever-mixed Slamdance, but the results are very uneven and like the title locale, seems to endless go nowhere.

 

The acting is good and the situations convincing, but the screenplay is riddled with predictability, some complacency and attempts to be realistic that seem cliché and like everything we have seen before.  River Strong, Wayne Young and Bumper Robinson also star in this disappointing, long 95 minutes exercise and the only reason to even see this once is for the actors.  Otherwise, any hope this will be good is just a mirage.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is a little rough, but is not bad, lensed by Thomas Harting, C.S.C., with some good shots that help make it more bearable.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is stretching out the not-so-great audio, though dialogue is recorded well enough.  Extras include a gag reel, teaser, trailer, deleted/extended scenes that are somewhat interesting, a making of featurette and director’s audio commentary.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo